


Youthful Exuberance

by morethanjustpretty



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-09
Updated: 2016-10-09
Packaged: 2018-08-20 11:25:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8247076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morethanjustpretty/pseuds/morethanjustpretty
Summary: Ned and Catelyn come across an amorous couple.  Written for a prompt.





	

“Do you really think this banquet is necessary Cat?” Ned asked as they rode their horses away from Winterfell.

“Ned, how can you even ask?” Catelyn Stark gasps as she rides next to him.

“It’s just with the wedding banquet not two months ago and...”

“Ned, it is important to greet this new Queen, Jon’s aunt, with respect if we want her to take the North seriously,” Catelyn explained as they trotted toward a nearby wood.

“You’ve taken to Jon since you found out who he was,” Ned said as he eyed his wife.

“Knowing that you didn’t break our vows was something you could have told me many years ago,” Catelyn said with a bit of bite.

“I’ve apologized profusely Cat and...” Ned started.

“You have, but it still doesn’t take away the sting that my own husband didn’t trust me,” Catelyn said honestly.

“Aye, I’m sure it doesn’t,” Ned agreed. “But you seem to have taken a shining to the lad...”

“Honestly, I feel badly for how I treated him, I acted childish and...and I’d like to make amends for it in some way,” Catelyn confessed.

“He makes Sansa happy,” Ned said with a smile. “I haven’t seen her with a frown in two months.”

“She’s always liked Jon,” Catelyn said. “He’s a handsome man.”

They entered the small wood and started to ride single file, Ned leading down the narrow path.

“Remember when we used to ride out here all the time?” Catelyn asked as she took in the smell of the pines and the crisp air around her.

“Many a babe was made in these woods,” Ned chuckled. “You’d think with an entire castle...stop!”

Ned hissing for her to stop scared Catelyn momentarily. 

“Horses and people up ahead,” Ned whispered as he pointed toward an area a distance away in the woods. He was a trained hunter and could spot noises and movement at long distances.

“Who is it?” Catelyn whispered.

“I can’t see the horses well enough to know,” Ned said as he dismounted his horse and crept closer to the people. “Take out your blade.”

Catelyn reached down and pulled a knife from under her skirts.

“Stay on your horse and go for help if there’s trouble,” Ned whispered as he quietly made his way through the bush, not making a sound.

Catelyn sat on her horse with bated breath as she watched her husband disappear into the woods toward some unknown people. These woods were Stark woods and any trespassers could be dangerous. Many scary minutes passed while Catelyn waited at the ready.

“Oh fuck!” Ned cried from somewhere in the woods.

“Ned?!” Catelyn cried out.

She heard a woman’s cry then voices exchanging words and then saw Ned tromping back through the wood without a care for the noise he was making.

“What’s going on?!” Catelyn yelled when she saw him.

“Something I’ll never be able to forget,” Ned scoffed as he walked toward her with a scowl on his face.

“Ned, who is it?!” Catelyn demanded.

Ned was quiet for some time before he spoke and Catelyn was scared as each minute passed what his answer may be.

“Ned?!”

“Jon and Sansa,” Ned said as he wiped at his eyes and then stood next to Catelyn’s horse.

“Jon and Sansa?” Catelyn asked, confused. “What are they doing out here?”

Ned shifted his feet uncomfortably and looked up at her with a sigh.

“Their making babes,” Ned groaned as Catelyn say a disheveled Jon and Sansa led their horses through the wood and toward them.

“Making...oh,” Catelyn finally understood.

She then started to laugh uncontrollably.

“It’s not funny Cat,” Ned groaned as he looked anywhere but at his daughter and son-in-law as they approached them. 

“Oh, but it is!” Catelyn Stark laughed.

“I saw them!” Ned hissed. “My own daughter with Jon.”

“And judging by their reddened faces they are none to happy either,” Catelyn whispered. 

“Father, I’m sorry you...” Jon started as he approached Ned and Catelyn.

“Let’s not speak about it,” Ned cut him off. “It was as unfortunate event and one that need not be repeated if you just...just keep that activity to your rooms in the castle.”

“Ned!” Catelyn cried astonished. Considering how many times they had made love as a new couple in these woods it seemed ridiculous he stop their daughter from the same.

“It’s better for everyone that way,” Ned said as he walked toward his horse.

Catelyn looked at her daughter, humiliated before her, and Jon, apologetic and worried.

“Your father and I used to come out here a lot as newlyweds too,” Catelyn explained. “There’s something about the outdoors and escaping the confines of the castle where everyone is around each other so often...”

“Cat!” Ned hissed.

“Ned, you can’t stop youthful exuberance,” Catelyn said admonishingly. “You have a daughter with a husband now. They make babies and are happy for the task. Don’t deny them an escape from the castle walls.”

“Lady Stark, if Father...” Jon started in defense of his father’s proclamation.

“They have an entire castle...” Ned started.

“No, they only have their rooms and that wasn’t enough for us, nor should it be for them,” Catelyn corrected him.

Ned sighed and looked at his fierce wife.

“Fine,” he sighed before he mounted his horse.

“We’ll whistle or call next time we enter the wood...just in case,” Catelyn said with a smile. Her daughter smiled back.

“Lady Stark, that’s not nec...”

“You have been granted leave by the Lord of Winterfell Jon, don’t ask for less,” Catelyn said with a smile.

Jon nodded and took Sansa’s hand in his.

“We’ll head back to Winterfell?” Ned asked his wife.

“Yes,” Catelyn said as she turned her horse to leave. “Enjoy the wood Jon and Sansa.”

Ned and Catelyn trotted away leaving a disheveled and confused couple in their wake.


End file.
